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    Steely Dan: Charles Toll

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    Charles Toll
    Steely Dan was formed in 1972 by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They started as songwriters for ABC Records before deciding to form their own band. Their first album "Can't Buy a Thrill" was a quiet release but included the hit single "Do It Again". Over the following years they released several critically and commercially successful albums that blended rock and jazz styles. They were known for their complex harmonies and unique sound. After breaking up in the 1980s following the album "Gaucho", Fagen and Becker reunited in the 1990s and continued recording and performing together until Walter Becker's death in 2017.

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    Steely Dan: Charles Toll

    Uploaded by

    Charles Toll
    138 views9 pages
    Steely Dan was formed in 1972 by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They started as songwriters for ABC Records before deciding to form their own band. Their first album "Can't Buy a Thrill" was a quiet release but included the hit single "Do It Again". Over the following years they released several critically and commercially successful albums that blended rock and jazz styles. They were known for their complex harmonies and unique sound. After breaking up in the 1980s following the album "Gaucho", Fagen and Becker reunited in the 1990s and continued recording and performing together until Walter Becker's death in 2017.

    Original Title

    Jazz Presentation

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    Steely Dan was formed in 1972 by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They started as songwriters for ABC Records before deciding to form their own band. Their first album "Can't Buy a Thrill" was a quiet release but included the hit single "Do It Again". Over the following years they released several critically and commercially successful albums that blended rock and jazz styles. They were known for their complex harmonies and unique sound. After breaking up in the 1980s following the album "Gaucho", Fagen and Becker reunited in the 1990s and continued recording and performing together until Walter Becker's death in 2017.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    138 views9 pages

    Steely Dan: Charles Toll

    Uploaded by

    Charles Toll
    Steely Dan was formed in 1972 by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. They started as songwriters for ABC Records before deciding to form their own band. Their first album "Can't Buy a Thrill" was a quiet release but included the hit single "Do It Again". Over the following years they released several critically and commercially successful albums that blended rock and jazz styles. They were known for their complex harmonies and unique sound. After breaking up in the 1980s following the album "Gaucho", Fagen and Becker reunited in the 1990s and continued recording and performing together until Walter Becker's death in 2017.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
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    Fagen and Becker met in college and started out writing songs for other artists before deciding to form their own band Steely Dan. Their early albums incorporated more rock elements which gradually evolved to incorporate more jazz and technical elements as they refined their sound.

    Fagen and Becker met their producer Gary Katz in college who later got them jobs as songwriters. They recruited members like Denny Dias and Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter to start recording their first album 'Can't Buy a Thrill'.

    Their early albums like 'Countdown to Ecstasy' and 'Pretzel Logic' incorporated more rock elements which gradually evolved to incorporate more jazz and technical elements in albums like 'Aja' and 'Gaucho' as they refined their sound and focused more on being a studio band.

    Steely Dan

    Charles Toll
    History
    Donald Fagen and Walter Becker Meet at Bard College - 1967

    Fagen and Becker Meet Gary Katz, who later gets them jobs as songwriters for
    ABC Records

    Decide to make their own Band. Fly out Denny Dias, begin practicing, secretly.

    Recruit Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, and drummer Jim Hodder

    With this skeleton they begin recording their first album - “Can’t Buy a Thrill”

    Record With Nuclear Engineer Roger “The Immortal” Nichols

    Released October 1972 - quiet release... but, “Do it Again” reaches #6 on the charts
    History
    They came out of nowhere, and now ABC Records wants them to keep putting out
    albums

    start touring while simultaneously writing their new album

    Unfortunately, not very good live.

    Release “Countdown to Ecstasy” in 73’

    Release “Pretzel Logic” in 74’

    All three albums more Rock than jazz, but with each release slowly turning more into
    Jazz, technical Band as they begin to figure out what they truly want out of each
    album.

    After Pretzel Logic is released, they decide to stop touring and only be a studio band
    History
    The band changes with each album, only Fagen and Becker stay with each album.

    Fagen - Keys

    Becker - Bass/Guitar

    Release “Katy Lied”, “Royal Scam”, “Aja”, and “Gaucho”

    Aja is their pinnacle album

    Gaucho is over rehearsed, sounds robotic almost

    Each album is filled with “Session Men”

    Aja and Gaucho use jazz session experts


    History
    After Gaucho they fall apart

    Donald puts out some pretty good solo albums

    come back together in 90’s and start touring as Steely Dan Orchestra

    all star band of jazzers

    don’t suck live anymore

    Put out “Two Against Nature”

    won Album of the Year, along with 3 other grammy’s

    Inducted into Rock and Roll hall of Fame


    Sound
    Master Harmonizers - very complex harmonies - signature along with

    Fagen has a very unique voice - second signature

    broad range of music stylings inside each song

    every song is different, with different artists playing each part

    Duke Ellington LIke in that when they found players they liked, they had them
    showcased in the songs - some solos came out awkward

    Used 12 bar blues frequently

    often in douplemeter

    solos, syncopation, all included in songs


    Sound

    hard to pin a closed set of tone color words

    but often, dark sounding, blue, steely,

    Fantastic Song Writers - sense of humor, able to capture life in song

    In 2 of their albums, “Countdown To Ecstasy”, “Pretzel Logic” recorded while touring

    because of this, they didn’t have time to really practice, so the recordings have
    the spontaneity and feeling of live performances
    Style of Jazz

    Has some bop elements - drums

    shuffle elements

    blues

    mainly a mix of all of those, new hybrid jazz rock


    IT’S OVER

    FIN

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